Verizon Is Interested in Acquiring Yahoo’s Assets, CEO Confirms

Speaking on CNBC’s Mad Money, Verizon CEO Lowel McAdam confirmed the carrier’s interest in acquiring at least some of Yahoo’s Internet assets, as it plans to move further into digital media.

“We said on this show a month ago in December we would look at it. I think their board is being very responsible in how they’re doing this,” McAdam said Friday. “We have to understand the trends that we’re seeing in some of their results now, but then at the right price I think that marrying up some of their assets with AOL under Tim Armstrong’s leadership would be a good thing.”

Last month, Verizon CFO Fran Shammo declined to say whether the carrier was considering a purchase of Yahoo, saying that “you cannot talk about something that’s not up for sale.”

However, last week Yahoo said that it was exploring “strategic alternatives”, suggesting it is looking for a buyer willing to take over its struggling Internet business.

The move would be a logical strategic step for Verizon, as it has already taken over AOL and its media assets in a $4.4 billion deal, which included popular publications such as Engadget, The Huffington Post and TechCrunch. Later, Verizon also acquired mobile advertising company Millennial Media for $250 million.

Yahoo has been rumoured to be considering spinning off its core Internet business for months, and those assets would be a good fit for Verizon, especially as Yahoo operates a wide range of mobile apps and websites, which attract 600 million users per month. It also owns app analytics firm Flurry, which it acquired in 2014 for $240 million.

But Verizon isn’t the only party in line for Yahoo’s Internet assets: SoftBank, the owner of Sprint, and AT&T are also potential candidates.

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